Autumn's Rhapsody
by Alice39
Summary: She was always detached, it was too much effort to be happy. But he was her opposite, he was always smiling, it was too much effort to be discouraged. AU
1. Summer's Change

Autumn's Rhapsody

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**Chapter 1: The Grace of Summer's Change**

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One... Two... Three...

She cut her long, black hair and let it fall just a little lower than her bosom. For days, weeks, months? She didn't know how long it had been, how long it had been since she went and became a shut-in in her room, finishing games one after another. Her form was pretty unkempt by now but she didn't really care. The bags under her eyes were darker than ever but she just ignored it.

This world was pointless anyway. Or at least, that was what she usually thinks, if not always. She had a disease of some unknown sort that had turned her into the grumpy, cranky person that she is now. And this, in turn, made people turn away. But she never cared, at least not now. There really isn't anything to care about when you sleep unconsciously through almost everything.

It was really, really pathetic.

But she wasn't at least, at the point of suiciding. She has her grandmother taking care after her, after all. She couldn't just leave her alone, that would be too much. That's why she decided to simply home-study and play at home, where she isn't ridiculed nor given much thought by outsiders.

A small look of mirth passed by her face as she remembered what she had been doing a year of her life. She spent it all on video games, now popularly known as the legendary 'LightningDancer Ene'. She even had the fanbase to back it up, she almost laughed.

"Takane-chan!"

It was the voice of her grandmother that cut through her train of thoughts. If she was right, the voice came downstairs, most probably from the kitchen. A rare show of sincerity past by her face as she remembered how her grandmother loved preparing her lunchbox for the day. She bit her lip and tried her best to muster up her most positive voice, which isn't really a lot, and shouted, "Coming, Grandma!"

As soon as she got down, she was welcomed by her grandmother who had a packed lunch in hand and a glass of milk on another. She smiled, her forehead wrinkling, as she gave the younger girl a peck in the cheek, "Goodmorning to you, Takane!"

"Ugh, Grandma-!" Takane tried to voice out her displeasure on the show of affection but inside, she was kind of feeling bubbly inside. She simply made with a small frown as she went to seat in the dining table in the room after and muttered as she ate her breakfast, "What's good with taking summer lessons before returning to school?"

"Hahaha," her grandmother's voice followed her to the dining room with a gentle chuckle. As she stopped, she gave a sad smile and added, "Well, this was what your Grandpa has decided before he died, Takane."

"...Yeah." Takane paused a few seconds and stared at her food before she simply returned to eating it again, this time an undistinguishable expression on her face.

A few moments past and she stood up from the table and as she kissed her grandmother grumblingly in the cheek, she went to the door and said, "I'm off, then."

* * *

She hate it, walking to school when she could have just stayed in her house and played with video games, just like she always did. But what made this set-up all worse was that she was going to school in the middle of summer. Her grandmother had said it was to catch up with the feel of normal schooldays but she didn't really liked it one bit.

It was annoying and tiring but it's not like she could flat-out disagree with her single relative, who she knew was the one that provided for her needs all these time. Medical expenses, video game finances and all.

Sometimes, she'd wonder how rich her grandparents are but she didn't pry. They must have wanted to live normally. Not that their life now is normal, what with the grandfather dead and the granddaughter sick and grumpy.

As she continued to walk, now slowing down her pace because she thought that it was too much effort, her train of thought flew from her kind of depressing past to her status right now. Being an icon and probably the face of the Dead Bullet 1989, and currently topping one online game after another making her fanbase even larger than ever.

There's also the rumor that fans are presently trying to trace her just for an autograph, if that wasn't an evidence of how this world was messed-up, then she really doesn't know-

BAM!

"Kyaah!" She out-of-characterly shouted as she felt herself falling down the ground, cursing herself mentally as she flushed at her feminine shout. When she tried to get up, she noticed that there was something below her.

But rather than something, there was someone.

Someone meaning a person.

And this person under her had his eyes closed, with a semi-gentle expression on his face and had black hair, though somehow a few shades lighter than him. Now that she saw a closer look, there was even a small mole or something kind of like a round mark just below one of his eyes. He was wearing what she assumed to be sneakers, a cardigan and checkered shirt. That must be in fashion, nowadays, huh-

"Wait!" She immediately stood up from her uncompromising position with huge eyes before she promptly kicked the boy and shouted at him, "You idiot! How dare you-"

"Ouuch~" She was cut off when the boy opened his eyes and gave her a sleepy gaze. After taking a yawn, he met her eyes and added. "That hurt, you know-"

"Ugh." Takane was trying her very best not to murder the boy as she bit back with rage, "You're the one who bumped into me..!"

"Ah, right." His face contorted from the sleepy one to a bright one as he gave a grin and said, "Sorry about that."

Before Takane can say something to that, the boy added, "But, eh, I cushioned your fall too?"

Takane almost rolled her eyes at the way it almost sounded like a question but dismissed it because somehow, he made a point. Somehow.

Dusting off the skirt she wore, she silently thanked the heavens she wore shorts underneath, she just gave a small shrug and left the boy, but not before saying, "Whatever."

As she walked, she though that she handled the situation well. It was an embarrassing situation but she was beginning to somehow being able to control her grumpiness and instead simply acting cool, somehow.

She walked past the empty hallways that she hadn't visited for about a year, not that she cared much about it, and went on to fill in her registration. It was all about application today, so it wasn't all that bad. Yet.

Finishing the forms with practiced ease and small grumbles here and there, she passed the paper and as she went out of the central office, she bumped a person. Whether the person took too much notice, she didn't know because as she went out of the room, she placed her beloved earphones in her ears and let the song blast out as she walked away.

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A/N: I abused 'somehow' here but I think it fits. Somehow. Hahaha, anyway, I wanted to write an AU for my OTP in the universe so here it is. It's a little bit short but then again, it's only the start. Later chapters will be longer and will hopefully be updated on a weekly basis. Hope that you guys liked this as much as I did. I know that it kind of makes small sense, but it would come together as time passes, I mean, that's how KagePro is anyway. Hahaha bye, I'll wallow in my tears as I reread past chapters for a while.

On a side note, honestly this is AU, so I'll try to not make this angsty. Or sad. Emphasis on try. And anyone willing to beta with me here will be loved. Hahaha heart.


	2. Summer's Change 2

Autumn's Rhapsody

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Chapter 2: Summer's Change 2

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A/N: Hi! Special thanks to AppleJuiceSenpai for beta-ing and giving her comment on this chapter beforehand. Thanks to everyone reading this, too! I hope that you like this as much as we did.

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Placing her headphones in her ears, Takane went out of her house to start another walk to school. It was officially going to be the first day of her class and she was feeling a little bit grumpier than usual because she had to stop playing one of her online games earlier in preparation of this 'momentous' occasion, or at the least, that was what her grandmother told her when she visited the younger female in her room.

Rolling her eyes at that kind of logic, Takane's footsteps became even faster as she walked through the cemented pavements that heads straight to her school. In the back of her mind, Takane is grateful for this route. After all, Takane had really not been one with the greatest stamina. Because really, what need for stamina will she actually have when all she does is play games?

Besides, she was quite... Strong. Well, when she rage, anyway. That must have been a side effect or something of her video games.

Shrugging off these thoughts in her mind, she began to continue on walking, amplifying the volume of her music player as she took another step. However, as she just started to walk toward the entrance, she bumped into a person.

Cursing at the fact that she seemed to be bumping into every stranger these days, and in school, no less, she stared at the offender with an unpleasant look in her eyes as she almost growled, "What the hell?!"

"Ehehe~" the voice came from a blond boy who stood in front of her. This particular boy had a wide, almost creepy grin on her face. Not that Takane is one to judge, but anyways. Almost desisting in her glare, Takane noticed that the boy looked... Younger. Perhaps he was a freshman? No, even though Takane's an incoming junior herself, she really couldn't picture the younger boy as a freshman.

Maybe the boy was from the middle school because he looked like he hadn't quite reached his growth spurt yet. Hopefully.

But that wasn't the point, she wasn't in the mood to analyze nor give a damn about strangers who bumped into her. The point is that the younger one bumped into her and she'll tell him off with a displeased tone, "You bumped into me, you know."

"Ara, gomen~" the younger one simply made a quick bye and continued to smile as he looked at her. He tilted his head to the side and let his catlike eyes meet with Takane's red ones as he asked, "Is that okay, senpai?"

Takane didn't know if the child was frivolous or stupid but she decided to let it pass. There was no point in ruining her day by wasting energy on a kid early on in the morning. She stared at the boy and simply said, "Whatever."

This must have seemed like a positive because the blond boy only gave her another grin as he ran to something-no, someone. Actually, now that she's staring at them observantly, two someones. The boy ran to his companions, a black-haired boy who seemed almost too carefree in his gesture and a girl who looked downwards and Takane can't see much of how she looked like because the girl was wearing a hoodie.

...in the heat of summer. Takane almost felt the heat that the girl must have been feeling. She already felt quite hot just looking at her, and by that, she meant her temperature and not whatever idea some perverted mind would assume. The song that she was listening in came to its high-pitch chorus and placed Takane back to reality.

And as she went back to her reality or the reality of the world, but it's not like she cares about the world at all, she felt someone tap her shoulder. And by someone... Takane turned around immediately, the speed surprised even herself, and she narrowed her eyes, "What's with you?"

"Eto," the boy gave a bashful grin, Takane rolled her eyes at that-he was the one who tapped her and then he's the one who acts all bashful?- and continued to glare at him from her bangs as the boy scratched his head and said, "aren't you a high school student here?"

There were a few moments of silence and Takane felt her mind going through some hardwiring as she replied, "Do I know you?"

Takane continued to stare at him, her glare now turning into an observant gaze. He was kind of familiar but not really much, too. He looked like someone who she might know but then again, she really can't remember. She thought that she sounded a little bit haughty with her reply but then again, she is pretty straightforward. At times. And she doesn't really care about this person.

"Aah~" the boy simply gave out a carefree laugh as he gave another smile and added, "I've seen you in the morning assembly at times, you know."

'Aah, how troublesome.' Takane immediately thought as she heard the boy's explanations. Either this one was plain stupid to not have heard the rumors or he's just pulling her leg with all this dumb act. As if the rumors about how she got homeschooled hadn't spread enough in their batch, anyway. Either way, she'll confirm which of the two this guy is. She looked at him in the eye, making him falter a bit with the intensity, and she drawled, "You've got the wrong girl."

"Eh?" The boy looked honestly confused, but Takane thought that he may be just at great in acting. What he said next, though, took Takane in mild irritation, "But I don't think there's anyone else who has eyes like yours?"

Takane twitched at that and her lips were starting to form a frown as she scoffed at the insult. She looked at him in the eye and gave him one of her murderous glares, "Are you insulting me?"

Trying to say that she's the only one in the school who has unpleasant eyes, huh! This boy will eat the words out of his mouth soon enough-

"E-eeeh-" The boy started to wave his arms frantically and between those waves, he managed to place his eyes on her shoulder as he gave another warm smile, that kind of irritated Takane, and stated, "There's no one else in school who have such warm red eyes!"

Takane's eyes widened at that and very faint, almost invisible, pink tainted her cheeks. She looked to the other side and said, "Whatever, just take you hands off my shoulders."

The boy looked at her questioningly with his almost innocent eyes and when he noticed where his hands are, he immediately took them back with a laugh, "Ah, right, hahaha."

"Hahaha," Takane gave a laugh, too. When she noticed that the boy looked at her warmly and all friendly-like, her laugh turned into an almost evil smirk as she punched him in the side. Seeing the boy's surprised expression, Takane shrugged off as she walked away and muttered, "Don't get so friendly with me."

Friends?

Psshh. Takane doesn't need it nor will she ever need one.

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"What is this?" The intensity of Takane's eyes seemed to intensify even more as she looked at the figure who was sitting in the teacher's table, boredly typing in his laptop. Her eyes turned into a glare as she saw the scum of the earth who was still refusing to acknowledge her presence and she almost hissed as she added, "Why are YOU here?"

"Still a bright ray of sunshine aren't you," the man in white lab gown said as he finally closed his laptop and looked at the girl. He continued to stare at her as he added, "though that's not way you should talk to your teacher."

"I'll call you sensei when you actually earned the respect," Takane simply commented with a roll of her eyes. As she dropped her bag into her desk, she casually asked, "How many students are in this summer class, anyway?"

"Hmm?" The man - Tateyama was on his namecard - looked through a pile of paper and drawled, "Two."

Takane, who was in the middle of setting up her headphones, froze as she threw a glare at him, "Are you kidding me?"

"Look at the paper for yourself," the teacher threw a paper on her desk and yawned as he added, "You're lucky that you got Kokonose as your summer classmate, Enomoto."

"Kokonose?" The name felt kind of familiar on her tongue and when her eyes widened in realization, she confusedly asked, "Isn't that guy one of the top in the batch? Or so I remember."

"Yes, definitely a smart one." Tateyama nodded with a grin, "Lucky for you, lucky for me."

Ignoring his weird response, Takane decided to sate her curiosity for a while as she pried, "I've only heard of him. Why is he in summer class, stuck with you?"

"Stuck with you and me." The older man corrected. He gave another one of his creepy smiles as he added, "But to answer your question, it's because Kokonose had missed some days during the school year and now needs to attend summer class for attendance if he wants to graduate on time when you kids reach your senior year."

"That's a weir-"

The door opened loudly as Takane was cut off in her statement. She looked at the boy who had just entered and noticed something familiar about him. A smirk forming in her lips, she asked, "Aren't you the one who I had just...?"

"Ah, haha," To Takane's irritation, the boy only gave a grin. He nodded to himself as he said to no one in particular, "I kind of had the feeling that you were going to be my classmate."

"Ah!" The older man gave a triumphant grin as he raised his eyebrow at the girl and made silly and inappropriate hand gestures as he mused, "Young love, young lo-"

With strength taken from starting to get pissed, Takane threw an eraser from her pencil case in his face to shut him up and she scowled, "Shut up, old man."

"W-wow." Haruka - the dumb, but smart, the paradox that he is - actually clapped in amazement as Takane's shot was on target. That was until he realized that the older man was wailing and turned his attention to him and asked, "A-are you alright, sensei?"

"U-uh!" Tateyama protested dramatically his hand over the spot which is increasingly going red and he stood up to exit the room as he was about to close the door, he added, "I'll be in the Nurse Office to remedy this-ouch!-the papers are there, just finish them and go home in three."

"Dramatic, tch," Takane gritted her teeth as the door slammed shut. Sighing darkly, she muttered to herself, "If I had known that he was going to run away, I should have used something bigger."

While she continued to drum her pencil case on her desk in annoyance, Haruka took the papers left in the teacher's table and filed the papers into two for each questionnaires. A few minutes later, the boy approached the pissed girl and handed her share of paper with a smile, "Here."

"Tc-uhm, right." Takane nodded her head as she took the paper from his hands, biting her tongue so as not to get her temper take the best of her and proceeded to examine the papers in her hand. Skimming through the papers and her expression getting more and more unpleasant as her eyes glazed on more and more of her papers and she gritted her teeth in irritation, "That idiot-some of this aren't even covered in freshman year."

Haruka, who was beside her-she didn't even noticed it until now-, had already started on some of the worksheets. Peering at her, he gave a smile as he offered, "Do you want me to help you?"

Takane briefly considered the offer before she bit the inside of her cheek and shook her head, "No thanks."

"Mhmm," the boy absentmindedly nodded his head as he looked at the sheets in front of him and mumbled, "Alright."

Takane shrugged as she sat down and placed her headphones on her ears and started to finish some of the easier questionnaires. Increasing the volume of her music player, she immersed in her own world as she tackled the bothersome task.

* * *

"Damn." Takane cursed under her breath as she noticed that the questions were getting harder than as they come and go and she is honestly so pissed off at the fact that this kind of trivial questions aren't appropriate for any freshman's level. Glaring at her paper, she gritted her teeth, "That stupid-"

"Eto," the boy beside him looked at her with a small, unreadable expression. As Takane looked at her with an unconscious glare, the boy gave a nervous smile as he said, "I can help you with that if you want?"

The statement sounded so much like a question, sounded so weak coming from a boy that Takane just couldn't help herself when she twitched. Glazing her eyes over the boy's finished questionnaire - which he would have been willing to share with her - and she simply shook her head as she muttered, "No, I'll just tell the old man to actually teach us tomorrow."

"Alright." The boy nodded his head in agreement before he took what looked like a red and orange sketchbook. Takane proceeded to watch him for a while as his hands - which looked like they was moving by themselves - proceeded to create a small sketch of the classroom that they were in now, or at least, in the process to. As she continued to look on curiously as a series of lines and shadows were beginning to greatly resemble where the both of them were, Haruka's hand stopped and he looked sideways to see that his female classmate was staring at him curiously, albeit a little intensely.

But then he noticed that she was not looking at him - not entirely - but at his hands as well on his sketchbook. He continued to stare at her face which was staring at the illustration until Takane looked up and met his gaze. Haruka - he was sure that he might get punched for the nth time by the girl - gave a nervous chuckle, "Er, hahaha."

"It's time to go home, " that was the only thing Takane said as she stood, not caring that he caught her staring - but she caught him staring as well. Keeping the small flicker of embarrassment that was beginning to waver within her, she took her bag as she continued to walk to the door out of the room when she was stopped.

"Wait!" In her mind, Takane thinks that the boy's voice was a little too much like the sun, so warm and beaming - something that didn't sit well with her. As she stopped by the door, not even turning around to meet his figure, the boy gave another one of his carefree laugh as he asked, "You forgot to mention. What's your name?"

'For all his supposed smarts, what an idiot.' Takane thought as her lips gave an upward quirk. She began to walk again as she said.

"Enomoto Takane."

She didn't know and he didn't know - but her name is going to be important for both of them in the future.

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A/N: Read, review and subscribe lol


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